The Mad Doctor
by TweetyBirdAlpha
Summary: What if the Doctor showed up on your doorstep? What would you do? Would you go with him and have the adventure of your life? Even if he seemed a bit…off? Even if you ended up running from him and hiding in fear? Disclaimer: Not a self-insert even though it sounds like one, plenty of necessary OCs and also not a Doctor/OC shipfic.
1. Chapter 1: Help

The Mad Doctor Chapter 1: Help

* * *

What if the Doctor showed up on your doorstep. What would you do? Would you go with him and have the adventure of your life? Even if he seemed a bit…off?

* * *

Marie had just finished throwing her clothes into the washing machine and was about to attempt to force the lid shot when she heard a knock on the door. She sighed and crossed the small space she laughably called her living room to the door. She peeked through the peep hole, expecting her sister or a friend, and she stopped breathing. David Tennent was standing in front of her door, grinning his trademark grin, hands in the pockets of a very familiar looking long brown coat. She blinked rapidly a few times, trying to process this very strange, but awesome, change to her day. She gave up and glaced down at her pajamas. For some odd reason, she didn't want to meet David Tennent in her Oscar the Grouch pajama pants.

"Just a second," she called, running back into her room and throwing on a few of her remaining clean clothes. She checked her reflection in the tiny mirror, grimaced, and tried to reshuffle her mass of hair. After quickly downgrading the ruin from to disaster area to rats nest, she grabbed her phone and sent off a mass text:

_David Tennent. At my door. Not even kidding. _

She stuck the phone into her pants pocket and took a deep breath then fixed her excited face into a bored frown. She walked slowly to the door and threw it open.

David Tennent grinned at her and she struggled to keep her face from breaking into an answering grin.

"Can I help you," she asked, keeping the eagerness from her voice. She had decided to pretend that she didn't know who he was. If this was some sort of hidden camera prank, they were going to have to work to get their 'this person fell for it' shot.

"Hello," David said cheerfully, "I'm the Doctor."

Marie's mouth twitched but she kept the grin from surfacing. The fangirl in her squeed and she temporarily wanted to jump up and down clapping her hands in glee. It had been years since David had left Doctor Who and while the 50th anniversary was coming up, she had no clue what he was doing here acting like the Doctor. She opened her mouth to ask The Question but broke into a giggle fit before she could. Between chortles she could see David rolling his eyes. After a few good seconds, she was able to regain her composure but the bored mask was gone. She paused a few more seconds, savoring the moment then asked, "Doctor Who?"

David rolled his eyes again patiently while Marie again lost it to laughter. He waited patiently but every time the girl looked at him, she started laughing again. Finally, he had had enough. "Listen…" he paused and pulled out a thin wallet and flipped it open, "Marie…", he closed it and shoved it back into his coat, "I need your help."

For some reason, this made Marie laugh even more, enough so that she had to lean against the door for support.

David muttered something under his breath and slammed his fist against the door frame, "Listen!"

Marie stopped laughing, startled. She took a quick step backwards where she could reach the door to slam it shut if she needed to. She narrowed her eyes, "I'm listening, _David._" She didn't know where this was going but she wasn't having fun anymore.

David glanced at his fist and the now small dent in the wooden doorframe and looked briefly chagrined. "Sorry," he said running a hand through his perpetually messy hair, "It's just been…stressful."

Marie didn't say anything, waiting on the tall British man to continue.

David flicked his eyes at her then looked away, "I know you think I'm an actor, some bloke named David, but I'm not. I _am_ the Doctor."

Marie quickly and firmly closed the door before the crazy man could get in. She clicked the battery of locks shut and took a few steps back from the door. She heard the sound of a fist slamming into the door a few dozen times but resolutely didn't move. After ten tense minutes, David Tennent walked away.

Feeling shaken, Marie shivered and shook her head, "Weird." She felt her phone buzz in her pocket but decided that she didn't want to deal with it right now. She walked back to her laundry room and started stacking heavy objects on the lid to force it closed when she heard another sound. She paused, a heavy box in her hands.

It wasn't someone at the door…

The noise got louder, sounding kind of like a whine.

It wasn't her phone…

The noise got louder, pulsing.

She hadn't left her TV on...

She heard a loud clank and the room shook slightly.

Things clicked together. "No…," she whispered. "Surely not."

"Excuse me," a cheerful voice said from the living room, "Marie?"

She leaned her head through the door and felt that same laughter from earlier well up. Remembering how Dav…no, the Doctor, had reacted, she squashed it. But she couldn't keep the thrilled grin off her face as the ramifications crashed down.

Only one fictional person ran around in a tall, blue telephone booth. And the Tardis sitting in her living room, just between the couch and bookcase, didn't seem very fictional to her. Neither did the smirking man leaning against it.

"You have no idea how many times the people in this universe have reacted that way. I've discovered that bringing the Tardis out is the easiest way to convince people who I am." He rubbed his chin, "I have to admit, that TV show is very entertaining even if half of that stuff is completely fictional. I'd love to know where they get their information from." He shrugged, "But that's beside the point." He stood straighter and frowned, "_I need your help_."

It's a very common hypothetical question in Marie's group of friends. 'What would you do if the Doctor came to your door? Would you go with him?" The answer had always been, unanimously and without hesitation, yes. The adventure certainly had its draw but the main reason had always been the Doctor himself. His exuberance and joy and passion, not to mention his looks, made many knees weak and many fangirls squee.

And now the Tardis was sitting in her living room, the Doctor was asking her to come with him.

But he had really scared her earlier, with his outburst and violence.

The Doctor took a step towards her, his eyes sad, "If it's about earlier…I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I let my temper get the better of me. It was rude of me but," he hesitated, "I truly do need your help." He held out his hand, "Please."

There were many reasons not to go with the Doctor, many logical and good reasons, but there was only one reason she set down the heavy box she had been holding and took the Doctors hand. He needed her help, the familiar stranger who saved worlds, destroyed monsters and engaged in far too much running, and in the end that was good enough for her.


	2. Chapter 2: I Dream of Dragons

Chapter 2: A Dungeon and a few Dragons

_Steam hissed past Marie's face, making her jump back into a deep puddle. She grimaced and tried not to think about what she was standing in._

_"Careful," the Doctor said quietly, "those jets are two parts acid."_

_Marie stepped back even more, "Joy. Why are we here again, Doctor?"_

_The Doctor waited for the jet to fade then started walking forward again, Marie let him take the lead. "One of my contacts told me about this place, they're collecting members of species from all across the galaxy. None of them have come out again."_

_Marie nodded, trying not to slip back into the shocked coma she had gone into when she discovered that there were aliens in her universe. "But you still haven't explained what they're doing here. In a Japanese sewer. In the 1970's." She paused, "Wait, those Japanese monsters aren't real, right?"_

_"Weeeeeell," the Doctor said, drawing the word out. "Most myths have some truth to them." He paused and leaned down._

_Marie took a few steps forward to stand next to him, he had stopped in front of a small glowing green light in the water. The green glow moved and Marie jumped backwards. "Wha?!"_

_The Doctor cooed, "Hey there cutie, it's ok." He reached into the sewage, Marie shivered in disgust, and pulled his hand back out. He was holding something in his cupped hands. He stepped closer to Marie._

_Marie's jaw dropped. The Doctor was holding a small lizard looking creature with a long tail with think spikes spaced down it. It stood on two legs while its two tiny claws clutched the Doctor's thumb to steady itself. It glowed with dark green light, pulsing softly. "Is that…"_

_"Yes," the Doctor said in joy, "it's a mini Godzilla." He laughed in excitement, "This is just wonderful!" They heard a faint roaring sound and the Doctor grinned, "And I think that's what we're here for."_

* * *

_Marie gently held the baby Godzilla as they crept down the sewers. It mewed softly and Marie softly petted its spines. It calmed down and curled up in her hands. She smiled. "What are we going to call it?"_

_The Doctor looked back, "We are not keeping it."_

_"Aw come on! Think about it, our own pet Godzilla!"_

_The Doctor shook his head and was about to answer when the dim light ahead of them brightened. He raised a hand and they stopped. Ahead, a shadow filled the light then vanished._

_The Doctor motioned and they moved forward slowly. When they reached they light, they slowly crept to the opening and peered through. The room beyond was huge, the sewer tunnel they were in dropped off into a deep pit. The pit was full of dark moss that the smelly water cascaded into like a dirty waterfall. The moss covered the walls of the cavern, all the way up to the domed. The moss even covered the long, spindly vines that hung down from the ceiling._

_What dominated their attention was in the center of the room, its giant head almost brushing the ceiling, was a very large version of the baby Marie held. Godzilla senior. It roared again, the sound shaking the vines and sending the Doctor and Marie back a few feet in shock. The source of its vocal distress readily becoming apparent. Thin, white, snake looking things were rapidly slithering along its scales. Occasionally, one would stop, raise its wide head and start to burrow into the scale. The Godzilla would roar in response._

_"They're hurting it," the Doctor said, his voice hard. He glanced at Marie, "Stay here."_

_Marie nodded, intending to do no such thing._

_The Doctor took a few steps into the room and started walking along the rim. He quickly got the snakes attention. "Hey, snakey guys!," he yelled, continuing to move away from the tunnel where Marie was hiding, "I want to talk to you!"_

_The snakes stopped moving, their heads turning in unison to follow the Doctors movements. They turned towards a single snake that was perched on the Godzillas head. The head snake made a loud sqwaking sound and the entire pack of snakes began to jump from Godzilla with graceful, springing leaps. They slithered along the walls and ceilings until they had completely surrounded the Doctor. All of their attention was on him._

_Marie held the mini-Godzilla close and softly stepped into the room. None of the snakes seemed to notice._

* * *

_The Doctor eyed the snake creatures. Well, the snake-like creatures. They certainly looked like snakes, with their long, narrow bodies and lack of legs or arms. Their wide heads were topped with a double pair of eyes with a mouth filled with a full row of fangs. He had to admit, one of the best things about being in this universe was all of the new creatures and races he met. He glanced up at the Godzilla, who had crouched down and was messing with something in the pit, cooing softly. He would be anything that there was a nest down there and that the pit was full of baby Godzillas. His mouth thinned._

_The crowd of snakes parted and a single white snake slithered forward. It raised itself until its head was even with the Doctors. "Greeeeetings human," it said in a light, whispy kind of voice. "How may we…assist you?"_

_The Doctor raised an eyebrow, most aliens in his own universe could at least tell the difference between a human and a Timelord. But then this wasn't his universe. He felt his face begin to scowl but he was able to divert the scowl into a word, "Oh nothing, just exploring."_

_The snake looked surprised, it blinked one set of its eyes slowly, "Human, you can speak our language?"_

_The Doctor smirked, "I'm good with languages." Luckily the Tardis's translation circuit works in this universe too._

_The snake nodded, "I see." He paused and said something snappy to one of the other snakes, keeping his eyes on the Doctor. The snake slithered quickly away, disappearing down a side tunnel._

_"Problem," the Doctor asked in amusement. He had no doubt that that snake had been sent to warn whatever higher power these creatures were working for. Making sure the boss knew something strange was happening was a good skill for minor minions to have and these snakes just screamed minion to a higher evil._

_"No," the snake replied smoothly. "We simply forgot to disconnect the power to our oscillation transponder."_

_The Doctor nodded, "Of course, don't want those oscillations transponding without supervision." He grinned, "Do you mind if I asked a few questions?"_

_The snake blinked again, his face tightening, "No, please ask away."_

_The Doctor gestured sharply at the Godzilla, thin streams of purple blood could be seen dripping down its scales. "Why are you hurting this creature," he asked, his tone polite but his eyes flashing._

_The snake hissed, the first snake like sound it made, "It is an escaped experiment. It is our property and we have come to reclaim it."_

_"So you're hurting it?"_

_"It must be worn down before it can be safely transported."_

_"So you're hurting it," he repeated angrily. The Doctor took a step towards the snake, his voice cold, "You have one chance, and one chance only, to explain this. You will tell me the truth or I will force it from you."_

_The snake hissed again and the ring of snakes tightened around him. "You threaten what you do not understand human. I could kill you with a whisper, destroy your planet on a whim, you would do well to turn and run, human."_

_The Doctor grinned. This was not the pleased, 'I'm having fun' grin, this was the grin of someone who knew a secret and couldn't wait for someone else to discover it. The hard way. "One chance."_

_The snake snorted, thin slits opening and closing on its snout, "Kill him."_

_The Doctor pulled his right hand out of his pocket holding a thin rod that sparked angrily. As the snakes leapt at him with quick, violent movements, they were each met with the sparking rod, which moved with a very practiced accuracy, and fell twitching to the ground. A few seconds later, once they were all sprawled on the ground, the Doctor knelt down next to the snake he had been talking to. "Snakes are all muscle," he said to it, nudging it lightly with his foot, "and muscles can be paralyzed in so many non-lethal ways." He leaned closer, "So, what's the plan snakey-guy?"_

* * *

_Marie slid down the mossy wall of the pit, fighting to keep her balance. She reached the bottom and skipped a few steps until she was able to stop. Looking up at the gigantic towering Godzilla, she gulped. This had seemed like such a good idea from the tunnel but now it seemed kind of reckless. And stupid._

_The Godzilla spotted her and opened its mouth to roar in anger, when she held up the baby she had brought. The Godzilla closed its mouth and bent down. The giant mouth stopped only inches from her hands and nostrils almost as big as she was sniffed the baby. The baby squeaked, its tiny arms raised towards its mother. The giant Godzilla made a sad noise, almost deafening Marie. Its enormous arm reached over and gently, carefully, stroked the baby's head._

_"It's ok," Marie whispered, afraid to even talk in case the Godzilla took offence to it, "he's ok."_

_The mama Godzilla moved its hand and glared down at her._

_Marie squeaked in a way that may or may not have sounded like a mouse having spotted a cat. "Sorry," she said._

_She heard a noise and looked up. Along the wall, behind mama Godzilla, was a series of flashes. She heard a few muffled thumps and hoped the Doctor hadn't gotten into trouble. She snorted and amended that thought. She hoped the Doctor hadn't gotten into too much trouble._

_Mama Godzilla glanced behind her too, her silted eyes focusing on something Marie couldn't see. She watched something for a few seconds then looked back down at Marie. Her nostrils flared briefly as if she was smelling something and her eyes narrowed. She growled softly and bent down closer, her giant clawed hand reaching out again. She set her hand on the ground beside Marie and Marie glanced at it._

_She gulped and set the baby Godzilla down on the hand. The baby Godzilla ran across the giant palm and clutched her mother's enormous thumb. The mother cooed again softly. Marie couldn't help but smile._

_That smile vanished when the clawed other hand swooped down and curled around her. She forgot she was supposed to be hiding and screamed. The hand lifted her up and then set her gently on the rim of the pit. The other hand, holding the baby Godzilla, moved until it was sitting on the ground next to Marie again. The mother gestured with her free hand until Marie got the idea._

_"You want me to pick him up again?"_

_Mama Godzilla gestured again and Marie did so, taking the tiny creature and clutching him tightly. The giant hand moved again, and the giant monster turned around then looked straight up. It roared in challenge at some unseen foe, clawed hand held to its sides. The roof of the cavern shook once then crumbled into a rain of deadly rocks, moss and vines._

_Marie pressed up against the wall, sheltering the baby as best she could._

_When the dust settled, Marie looked up to see a bright, orange light filling the cavern._

_Mama Godzilla roared again as a large, circular disk floated down to them. Bright red lights from the object lit up the giant roaring creature and a slowly building hum filled up the space. Whatever that was, was getting ready to fire weapons!_

_"Doctor," she called, "Doctor!"_

_"I know," he called back._

_She looked around and saw him pulling one of the fallen vines out of the pit._

_"I thought I told you to stay put!"_

_Marie started over to him but he stopped her with a shout._

_"Stay there," he yelled, his face furious. "when I say stay there, I mean it!"_

_Marie stopped, her foot halfway to the ground. Was the Doctor yelling at her?_

_"Why is it that you humans just cannot listen," he continued as he began to wrap the vine around something she couldn't recognize. "Always running off and getting into trouble. It's that curiosity complex of yours, isn't it? You've always got to know." He finished wrapping the vine and tied it off. Then he hefted the mishmash object onto his shoulder and started sprinting around the edge. "You have no idea how many times I've had to rescue people who just did not stay when I said stay!" He threw the object like a spear. It soared over the mother Godzilla's shoulder and embedded itself into the wall so that it was sticking about halfway into the opening. The Doctor still had ahold of the other end of the vine. "Why don't you just stay put," he loudly asked as he attached something to the other side of the vine. The something sparked. Then the Doctor reached back and threw the entire vine. The vine followed a hyperbolic arc, swinging from the pinned center, sparking the entire way. It hit the circular object with a thud, there was a silent, expectant, pause then the entire room erupted with a bright white, crackling, light._

_The light cleared and the alien disk soared drunkingly out of the room, a gaping hole in its side. The red lights vanished from Godzilla and soon the orange light of the craft faded from sight._

_Godzilla roared again, this time in triumph._

_The Doctor didn't gloat his victory, at how quickly he had defeated his mysterious enemy. He walked over to Marie, an annoyed frown on his face. He didn't chew her out, he just scowled, his eyes on the monster in her arms._

_After a few seconds, he looked up at her, the ghost of a smile on his face. "You still can't keep it."_

* * *

Marie bolted upright, her eyes darting around the empty, dirty room. She sighed and pulled the tattered blanket closer around her, trying to dispel the lingering sense of happiness that the dream had left behind. The dream...memories of a time long gone. Of adventure and fun. Of a warm bed and safety.

She laid back down on the hard, concrete floor and closed her eyes again, trying to sleep while remaining completely aware of her surroundings. It was probably impossible, of course, but it was a skill she needed to perfect if she was going to survive. It was a difficult thing, being on the run from a Timelord.


	3. Chapter 3: Hiding, Flying and Fear

Chapter 3: Hiding, Flying and Fear

Marie walked slowly down the dirty street, keeping the weight off her right leg and exaggerating her limp. She passed dozens of forms huddled up against the dilapidated buildings, aliens of all shapes and sizes from worlds all across the universe. Nobody took notices of yet another cripple in the slums on Alsta, a planet that was basically nothing but overlapping slums, but you never knew what was recorded in History and when hiding from a time traveler, noticed in any way was the last thing you wanted to be. She pulled her hood down and ducked her head a little lower.

Stay inconspicuous, stay alert, don't make a ripple in the stream of time.

The Doctor was very long living but he was not immortal. He was incredibly clever but he was not perfect. He had access to an almost unlimited store of information but he was not all knowing. It was possible to hide from him, the Daleks had done it on multiple occasions, the Cybermen continued to surprise him and even the Master had found a way to hide himself away. Marie did not have access to the Void to hide in or the ability to change species and suppress memories. The best she could do was cut and dye her hair, walk with a limp and hope that nobody took notice of her for the rest of her life.

She caught a glimpse of brown in the corner of her eye and drew in a sharp breath. It was a local bird, of course, but it still set her heart racing in fear. There had been close calls on Rax, Souub, Earth, near misses on Laiep, Bartoux and narrow escapes on Qil, Sidn, Jaol, Soss, Pleka, Vepitue, Bai, Xeiter, Yydas and Earth again. They had come face to face on multiple occasions. He had yelled across erupting volcanos and screamed through dead-locked grates. His roar had echoed off the walls of countless back alleyways, abandoned factories and deep caves. He had sent brutal bounty hunters, employed practically evil trackers and set entire worlds searching. He had set shrewd traps, pulled nasty tricks and, she suspected, had even once stopped time.

But, through a combination of incredible luck and alertness bordering on psychic, she still walked free and it enraged him.

* * *

_Marie spun the dial on the console around uselessly. "Save Godzilla's babies."_

"_Yep," the Doctor said with a chuckle, continuing to rewire the panel underneath the Tardis main console. _

"_I have to admit, when I first got in the Tardis, I didn't expect that."_

_The Doctor chuckled, "Have to admit, neither did I." He gestured with his sonic screwdriver, "Press the chartreuse button, please." _

_Marie looked at the row of seven similarly colored red buttons. "Chartreuse?"_

"_Chartreuse," the Doctor confirmed. _

_Marie nodded and picked the middle button that looked slightly chartreuseier than the others. The entire room shook violently, tossing rapidly from side to side. Marie steadied herself on the Tardis console, "Was that the right one?"_

_The Doctor crawled out from underneath the console, his face covered in black soot, "No." He pushed the button on the far left, "This is chartreuse." The shaking stopped and there was a loud clank. The Doctor sighed, "Finally. I've been trying to reattach that room for years." _

"_What is it?" _

_The Doctor coughed in embarrassment, "Um, don't worry about it." He rubbed his hand over his face and grimaced at the soot now on his hand, "I've got to go clean up. Why don't you go ahead, I'll catch up when I can."_

_Marie nodded and walked over to the door. "Where are we, before I head out there?"_

_The Doctor consulted one of his many monitors, "A planet somewhere in the Andromida galaxy. The Tardis is still trying map the galaxy so it doesn't have a name for everything yet. It does say that the atmosphere is breathable, the plant life edible and the natives don't appear to be hostile. You should be ok." He paused and frowned, "But don't wander too far. You've already gotten into trouble once and I am trying to get out of the habit of having to save someone every ten seconds." _

_Marie nodded and opened the Tardis doors, slipping outside. _

_The Doctor made sure that Marie was long gone before heading down the main hallway in the Tardis. "Keep the front doors locked, would you?" _

_The bright lights in the Tardis blinked faintly in acknowledgement and a loud click echoed throughout the halls. _

_The Doctor walked past dozens of closed doors, knowing what was inside every single one of them. He past the recently reinstalled gardens with little more than a happy glance, he past bedrooms and recreation rooms, past rooms filled with both happy memories and sad ones. He past rooms with so well protected that even the door was hidden. _

_He walked far enough that the corridors became less well taken care of, the lights flickered and there was a definite chill in the air. He stopped in front of a door with a large sign hanging above it. The words on the sign had faded over time so that only the last letter was legible._

_E_

_He pointed his sonic screwdriver at the small handle. It clicked and he pushed it open._

* * *

Marie looked both ways before crossing the street, a habit she had learned as a child on Earth that she continued practicing even on alien worlds. A pair of native Alstans crossed with her, giving her a curious look. She was used to it, being (as far as she knew) the only human past the moon. But there were so many forms of Life in the universe, that they rarely did more than look. The Alstans, for example, were around seventeen feet tall, had three arms and three legs, four eyes and were purple. Their oval shaped buildings were all enormous by necessity and she had found it easy to be ignored by such large creatures. The Alstans crossed the wide roadway in a few wide strides with Marie almost sprinting to keep up. They reached the other side just as the traffic signal (an almost universal invention) changed and the Alstans giant, hovering vehicles roared past. Marie took a few seconds to catch her breath before continuing.

Her destination was the spaceport, a busting hive of travel and commerce and her ticket off the planet. Alsta was beginning to feel the rumbles of revolution, its rival casts had been slowly building up tension for the past few months. And it was about to boil over. Any time she was in an area or on a planet where it felt like trouble might start, she got out of there quickly. Trouble drew the Doctor like an angry hornet to an allergic kid and after a few 'interventions' that had turned out worse than the battles they stopped, the races of her universe were learning to fear the name Doctor.

She was just glad that, barring thwarting a couple of her more desperate hiding attempts, the Doctor had left the humans of Earth alone.

Inside the spaceport, dozens of starships sat in small clusters like flocks of birds waiting to fly. She felt a grin lift her lips upward, of all the things she had seen in the universe flying –and space travel specifically- still filled her with a sense of wonder and excitment. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small clip that she slipped behind her ear. This universal translator had cost her almost all of the things she had brought with her from Earth –which were seen as rare and strange antiques- and was too valuable to keep on all the time. In the places she usually went to, such a commodity would easily be worth more than her life. As the device began working, a stream of strange sounds were filtered through it and then translated into words she could mostly understand.

She walked into the big, open room and looked at the ships. The kinds of ships she traveled on were never top of the line but she had learned how to spot the pieces of junk. She stopped about halfway through the room, looking up at a large brown ship with twin engines on each side and a large, gray window wrapped around the center. It had the look of age but she could also see polish and the sheen of a recent cleaning. She glanced at the lowered entry ramp, where the name Garu was carefully lettered above it.

"Interested in a lift," a shadow asked as it descended the ramp.

Marie nodded, "Where are you headed?"

The dull brown alien reached up with a single clawed hand and scratched his head, "Wherever the wind blows me. Or, wherever the paying customers direct me. It's really either way." He looked over her with his single bright red eye, taking in her tattered clothes and messily cut hair, "You can pay, right?"

Marie chuckled, "Yes." One of the few things she had never had to worry about was money, human hair was apparently made of one of the rarest minerals in the universe and she could sell it for a great amount of money whenever it got long.

The alien nodded, his two mouths opening in a smile. He reached out his claw, "My name is Teax Yir Garu, Captian of the Good Ship Garu."

Marie smiled back and shook the claw, "Marie Dainea."

Teax nodded, "What planet are you from? I don't think I've seen your race before."

Marie grimaced, "Um, you've never heard of it, I'm not even sure where it is since my race isn't space faring yet. I got caught in a space tear and landed on Qil. I've been looking for home ever since." That was the background she had decided on while traveling, she didn't want Earth's name or location known to anyone.

"Ooo, that's rough," Teax said sympathetically.

Marie had found that people readily accepted this story. Apparently it wasn't all that uncommon to get caught up in tears in the fabric of the universe. She wondered why.

Teax glanced around, "Are you traveling alone or are we waiting on someone else?"

"Just me." She felt the hair on the back of her neck twinge and she froze, someone was watching them. She wanted more than anything to turn around and find the source of that sudden sense of awareness but she forced herself to keep looking forward. Looking around like she was searching for everyone was a sure way to draw attention to herself. "Um, I don't mean to rush you but can we go ahead and leave?"

Teax look down at her, his mouths turned down, "Are you in trouble?"

Marie shook her head slightly, still trying not to move too much, "No, I'm just in a slight hurry."

Teax didn't looked convinced but he nodded and gestured at the ramp, "If you'll board and set a destination, I will get us a takeoff slot."

Marie thanked him and slowly walked up the ramp. The tingling sensation behind her intensified when she started moving but, thankfully, didn't get closer.

The interior of the ship showed the same sort of worn care that the outside had. The seats in the cockpit were shabby but clean and the worn controls carefully labeled in Teax's native language. She reached forward and tapped the big green button with a sparkling star on it, which was the common symbol for the universal map. Or at least the map of the known universe of which she was very pleased to know that the Sol system was not part.

A display popped up on the cockpit window as Teax walked in.

"So, where are we headed," he asked, sitting down in his seat and slipping his claws into his customized controls.

"Just take off and I'll let you know once we're spaceborne."

Teax glanced sideways at her but didn't comment. He clicked a few words that her translator didn't pick up and the four engines started propelling the ship upwards. "Well, there's not a line so we have permission to lift off straight away. We should be out of atmo in about ten minutes."

Marie zoomed out the map and thought about it. If her instincts were right, then the Doctor had been closing in on her. That twinge in the spaceport had been a warning and she had learned to listen to them even if she didn't know why. She needed to confuse anyone following her. "Head towards Medae then we'll change coarse once we're halfway there."

Teax stared at her, his two mouths open in shock. "Change directions in mid flight, are you serious?"

Marie nodded grimly, "You know how I said I wasn't in trouble? Well, that might have been a lie."

Teax's brown skin paled, "Um… is this the sort of trouble that will involve my ship being shot at?"

Marie snorted, "I can promise that your ship will not be shot at."

Teax looked relieved, "Good."

Marie stood and started walking out, she couldn't help but add, "If this trouble catches up with me, your ship is the last thing you'd have to worry about. This trouble can get inside your ship without having to fire a single laser."

Teax watched her leave, a sense of dread filling him from his feet to his claws. He looked back out the window and the scene that was rapidly fading from bright blue atmosphere to the blackness of space, what had he gotten himself into?

* * *

Inside the Alstan spaceport, a small figure broke away from the milling crowd and headed towards the exit. He hissed in distaste as he walked looking up, his eyes locked on the brown ship soaring off into the sky. The ship finally disappeared and he quickened his pace. A few minutes later, he turned a corner and slipped down a narrow alley. He reached into the small pack he carried and pulled out a little alien device. He paused for a second, trying to remember how to power it on. He finally recognized the tiny nub on the top of the device and pressed it. The screen lit up and the alien felt himself tense.

After a few seconds of waiting, the 'phone' connected and a voice was piped through.

"I told you not to use this line except in emergency Miral. What is so important that you are tying up my line," the voice asked, sounding polite and curious but also a little mocking.

Miral scowled, his sharp mandibles flaring outwards, he had been standing there in that same spot for almost a week. It was a good thing his species didn't need to eat but once a month. "She was here."

There was a sound like paper rustling as the Doctor looked up where Miral was stationed. "On Alsta," the voice asked, his polite tone growing slightly annoyed. "I have to admit, that was the last planet I expected her to be on. Wait, was? What do you mean by was?"

"She was on a ship and gone within five minutes of me spotting her."

The Doctor's voice snorted, "Did she see you?"

Miral snarled, "My targets do not see me unless I want them to!" He thought back to the moment when he first spotted her. He might have stared in shock, he hadn't actually expected her to be on Alsta, and she had tensed. Her entire body language had been that of someone who knew they were being watched. He grimaced, "Well, she may have somehow…sensed me." His tone turned accusatory, "You did not tell me that the target was psychic."

The Doctor was silent for a moment, then words began to stream out of the device in an explosion of enthusiasm, "Well, I've actually been wondering about. It seems the humans in this universe have the same latent ability that they did in my universe. It might be that over the past few months that I have been trying to catch up with her, she has developed the unconscious ability to be aware of other people attention. It's rather interesting really! I wonder if…"

Miral sat through this tirade with the bored air of someone who heard the like regularly. Once it slowed down a bit, Miral interrupted, "Should I pursue them?"

The Doctor laughed, "Oh no, she's spaceborne now. If she's on even a halfway decent ship, there's no way you can catch her now. I'm still surprised that this universe developed faster than light travel."

Miral rolled his eyes, his employer always talked like he was from a completely different universe. But then, what should he expect when working for a crazy person. "Then what should I do?"

The Doctor paused and tapped a few buttons, "Well, I would recommend running."

Miral felt a trill of fear, "What?"

"According to what little information I have on the history of the planet Alsta, it is due to erupt into a very violent, devastating war in about twenty minutes. So, in short, _run_!"

Miral paled and dropped the phone, turning and sprinting back towards the spaceport.

It was the first place hit when the war began five minutes later.

* * *

The Doctor couldn't help but grimace as the phone line went dead, Miral had been a useful agent. He scowled at the phone in his hand feeling annoyed and anxious, muttering softly to himself.

"Doctor?"

The Doctor smoothly pocketed the phone and spun around, a bright smile on his face, "Lily, there you are! Ready to go?"

Lily nodded, practically jumping in excitement, "Yes!" She had always been an enormous Doctor Who fan and finding out that he was real had been possibly the coolest moment in her life. She eyed the Doctor, taking in his messy brown hair, sparkling brown eyes and impossibly cheering smile. Her heart fluttered and her resolve tightened. She would be the new Rose if it killed her, her name was even another type of flower! She lowered her voice an octive and fluttered her eyes, "Doctor."

The Doctor had to fight against rolling his eyes. So she was one of _those_. He rarely found himself caring about these types of companions. He gave her a week before something happened to her. Sure, he would feel bad about it but he always recovered quickly from _these_ types. It was difficult to care enough to keep them safe. "So," he recited, already feeling his attention wandering and thinking back to the TV show that this universe associated with him, "all of time and space, where do you want to start?"

* * *

"And in other news over the past 5 years, approximately 400 young men and women between the ages of 18 and 48 have gone missing under unusual circumstances. Each person vanished from their homes and a majority of them tweeted, texted or otherwise communicated to their friends or family that they had seen or talked to famous Doctor Who actor David Tennent. David Tennent has stated that he has had no contact with any of the missing 400 but this has not stopped global investigative agencies from investigating him. More on this story at 9."

* * *

*AN*

This is going to be fun.

*AN2*

And no, Marie is not going to gain psychic powers, think of it as an occasional paranoia superpower.


End file.
